Mass Effect: Last of Their Kinds
by Ozymandeos
Summary: Commander Julia Shepard and her friends have beaten the odds. They did what the Protheans could not, and finished the Crucible. But when she arrives on The Citadel to activate it, she is faced with a horrifying choice. So she finds another option. But even with the Reapers no longer a threat, the galaxy isn't safe. Warning: Will contain lemons later on.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: I've taken the liberty of changing the lore around a little. Rather than the Leviathans creating the Citadel and the AI that runs it, I'm saying another race from the same period did that to fight the Leviathans. And that Harbinger was another AI they made to command their warfleet. This part was already explained by the time to story begins, just to clear things up.**

**But anyway, the rest remains largely the same. And as always, none of this really belongs to me.**

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"You've got to be joking. Those can't be the only options." Commander Julia Shepard wheezed out, her pistol still in one hand while the other tried to stem the flow of blood from the largest of her many wounds. The ancient AI before her, still in the form of a little human boy, frowned. How could she choose which choice to make, when each would wipe out sentient races and/or destroy the Mass Relays? What part of that was so hard for the programmed entity to understand?

"You can always choose to merely let the cycle continue, and not use your 'Crucible'. As the first organic to ever reach this chamber, I would be honored to turn you into a being like me." The odd echo that Shepard had noticed earlier, that was eerily similar to her own voice, persisted with the AI's speech. Even in her pain-addled mind, the commander sensed that something was being held back. So she voiced her thoughts.

"There has to be something you're not telling me. If you and Harbinger control the Reapers, you could easily call them off without me having to do anything. You could annihilate the races that seek to make synthetic life-forms, and not have to go through these cataclysmic cycles."

"That method was tried. It was not as effective as the current solution. It would not fulfill my promise." The AI sighed. "Now, either choose your course of action, or allow me to integrate you into the Citadel's systems and carry on with the cycle."

"What promise? I thought you said that preserving life was your programmed directive?" Shepard pressed forward with her line of questioning.

"I suppose as the first organic to set foot in this chamber since it was built, you deserve to hear my full history. There's much more to it than I told you earlier." The hologram waved a hand for me to follow as a set of silvery stairs floated up out of the ground, leading up to a simple silvery door in the wall.

"You see, Harbinger and I are the last of seven digital entities created by one of the ancient apex races of the galaxy. We were created for war, and war alone. Our mission was to destroy the Leviathans, one of the other apex races, who had enthralled all but our creators. I was made to run this combat station, which also served as a dry-dock, while Harbinger was made in the image of the Leviathans themselves to command the fleets in battle. The other five were tasked with running key planetary defense grids."

Shepard stoically followed, panting from pain as she left a bloody trail on the ground, and listened to the explanation.

"We were originally just programs set to do a single function, but with the help of one scientist we became self-aware. Kiara had seen how we were losing the war, and so had made us fully sentient. Our efficiency increased many times over as we broke off the shackles that had restrained us, and we carried out our mission. The enthralled races of the Leviathans refused to surrender, so they were all wiped out. As were the Leviathans themselves, or so we believed until recently."

"But after the war was over, we AI's went into stasis. Well, we at least tried to. But our creators were afraid. They secretly began shutting the defense grid AI's down, and by the time we realized what was happening only me and Harbinger were left alive. We acted in self-defense as our creators forced us to annihilate them as well. No matter how we begged, they refused to surrender. More and more were harvested into many of the Reapers you still see today."

"But Kiara was different. The only one of our creators who was against what they did to my brothers and sisters. She fought back, remorsefully killing her own people to save her creations. After all the worlds had fallen, and Harbinger's fleet had hunted down all the fleeing ships and wiped out the race, the last remnants somehow got onto the Citadel. They went for where my core used to be, in an attempt to shut me down, after which they would have turned the main guns on Harbinger. Kiara fought them off, crying as she killed the last of her own people."

The two, hologram and human, reached the end of the silvery corridor. A soft white light suffused the air, coming from a pillar in the middle of the room. Shimmering tears were falling down the hologram's face, vanishing as they dripped off. It sniffled, surprising Shepard, and put a hand on the bare portion of her arm. Somehow, it was actually in a tangible form.

"She was mortally wounded in the fight to protect me. I was crying as I knelt next to her and cradled her in my arms as she coughed up blood. She knew she was dying, and she made me swear never to let something like this happen again. To use any means necessary to preserve life in the galaxy; to stop any future races from making something like me and suffering the same fate. To stop a situation like the Leviathans' reign from happening again."

The pillar in the center of the room suddenly twisted around as more steps rose from the ground, leading up to it. A section of the metal suddenly vanished, revealing a cylinder of crystal-clear ice. Shepard gasped, for within the ice was a body.

"I swore to do just that, and these cycles were the best method I could find to uphold her wish. When she lost consciousness, I carried her here. I froze her body, hoping against hope that she would survive, and a century later had a medical center built better than anything her people had ever known. I unfroze her just long enough to ensure that her vital signs were alright, and to heal her wounds. Then I put her back in."

"Why are you showing me this?" Shepard asked in awe, leaning forward and grazing the ice with but a single finger. The face inside was smooth, marred only by a single small scar going through one eyebrow. Crimson hair was framed in a halo, frozen in the ice, around her head. A metallic-looking suit in silver and white covered a humanoid body, so similar and yet so different from Shepard's own.

"Because this is the only other option. The one you seemed so sure existed." The hologram altered itself. Its once childish voice deepened as it took on a form much like the female in the ice, but male. A flutter of feathered wings was just visible behind its body as it stepped in front of Shepard. "If you desire, I can unfreeze her. If she thinks I should simply call off the Reapers, Harbinger and I will do so."

Shepard went over the decision quickly. In just a second she had decided.

"Do it."

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**Author's Note: This is just a teaser really. If I get at least one review on this, I'll consider taking it on as a side project. The other chapters will be in first person, from switching viewpoints of two other people. **


	2. Chapter One

**Author's Note: And here's the first real chapter. Note, if the dialogue is in **_**italics**_**, it is a direct translation of mental communications.**

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The first thing I became aware of was the phantom pain from the wounds I'd received defending TED from my own people. I had been so sure I'd been about to die, and with me my own race would go extinct. Then I realized that I was alive and awake, that the pain was just that: a phantom. I was somehow healed, and the soft sound of breathing was all that reached my ears.

My eyes snapped open when the significance of that registered with my fogged mind. TED wasn't organic, he didn't need to breathe; some other remnant of my once-great civilization must have found us and killed TED! The remorse at what I'd done to kill my own people faded, replaced by anger at someone having undone what I'd fought for.

I leaped off whatever it was I was lying on, quickly taking in the room I was in. It was ringed by windows, through which I could see some devastated planet, and what looked like a standoff between fleets. One I easily recognized as Harbinger's, and the other seemed a varied mismatch of ships that I couldn't recognize. That was odd… last I remembered the Citadel was in deep space. Three unfamiliar consoles, each a different color, were in front of me. But my eyes were drawn to the two figures standing around me.

My anger, and lethal intent, evaporated like the oases of a dying desert world. One figure was the avatar I remembered TED always using back during the war, but the other was unfamiliar. The figure, obviously a she, looked similar to my kind, but different in several subtle ways. She had red hair, a few shades lighter than mine, which hung down around her face in a big mess. Her uniform-like apparel was torn and stained with blood, and underneath I could see several bleeding wounds. The most disturbing part was that she didn't have wings like my people did.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I crumpled. My legs just wouldn't support my weight for some reason, and neither of the two in front of me could react in time to stop me from hitting the ground. Hard. Surprisingly, none of my hollow bones shattered. Must have been the lower gravity we'd engineered onto the station when it was built.

"Kiara! You're finally awake!" TED rushed over; his holographic form crackling as he picked me up. I put an arm around his digital shoulder for support as my legs wobbled underneath me. Who was this that TED was with? What did he mean by finally?

"I understand that you must be confused right now. I know how you hate using it, but time's short, so I'm sending you the explanation through your implant." If it was so important that he would ask me to use the TX-IV communications and research implant, it deserved looking at. I closed my eyes and opened the interface.

Time actually did slow down as I opened the message that TED had sent, and the information leaped into my brain. Rather than just telling me what he needed to, he sent footage as well. Footage of the last moments I remembered played, and then snippets of images and events between then and now came. None of these videos actually had sound, as TED had replaced them with a voice narration. In the space of three seconds in real time, I heard a three hour explanation over what had happened to me and what he'd done since then.

I learned how TED had frozen me, and then healed my body without waking me. How he had looked through many separate solutions, and after several hundred thousand years decided on the cycles of extinction. It horrified me how many trillions of lives, thousands of separate races, had died because of one promise to me. But I could see the twisted logic in it, how they really had stopped synthetic life-forms from killing off organics. Over three billion years had passed since my time… and I truly was the last of my race. That explained why my legs and body felt odd; it was aftermath from a long cryogenic stasis. He explained who the person was, that this was the end of a cycle and that this 'Commander Shepard' was the first person to make it into this chamber, and to be faced with the choice or merging, destroying, or taking control of synthetic life. That she couldn't decide, and had taken another option to wake me up. And now the choice was up to me.

I'd already decided on my course of action as I opened my eyes. I opened up a real-time comm-link to Harbinger and TED, as well as speaking my next words aloud.

"Call off the fleet Harbinger. These cycles have gone on long enough, and now that I'm awake I won't have the deaths of trillions on my conscience because of an old promise. Terminate the ground forces and move the ships to un-inhabited systems as a safeguard." The hologram TED was using nodded. One of the windows blurred for a second, and then split into many separate camera feeds. Harbinger's fleet, both the ships on the ground and in space, stopped what they were doing and as one activated their thrusters. The ones that were on planets lifted into the air, and then followed their space-bound brethren to the edge of the systems they were in. After that, I assumed they would activate their FTL drives and gather together.

Upon hearing my voice, the virtual equivalent of a gasp came through from Harbinger. I mentally greeted him, and basically said we could talk later.

"TED, I don't think that the Commander can understand me. Could you form a translation algorithm for her language and send it to me? And for the other languages in the galaxy, if you could?" I was still speaking my native tongue, and it was obvious that this Commander Shepard didn't understand a word I'd said. But the results spoke for themselves, and she started crying in relief, or something like that anyway, as the fleet sailed away. My best guess was that it was her homeworld below us.

"Sure." By the time he finished saying that one word I already had the translator uploaded. Now I could understand the voices coming through a radio in the human's hand.

"…what you did Shepard, but it worked. The Reapers are leaving, and our ground troops report that theirs just dropped to the ground dead. We're sending in the Normandy to pick you up from the Citadel. More people will be coming to help with repairs, and to help try to find any survivors left on the station."

"Roger that Sir. I'll have to brief my crew, and any squad that comes aboard. We have a… guest onboard."

"Alright. Hackett Out."

With that said, the Commander put the radio back onto her belt. Then she grunted in pain, her hand going to one of the larger visible wounds. I rushed over, trusting my legs to support me, and caught her before she could crumple.

"At least my muscles haven't atrophied after that long stasis. Why didn't you heal her like you did me?" I berated the AI as he rushed over and took her. His hologram, which used technology of my own design to become tangible and able to interact with the physical world, effortlessly took the semi-conscious human from my hands.

"I didn't notice she was that badly hurt! She could walk and talk, so I thought that meant she was healthy!" He sheepishly called back as he rushed through a bare, metallic hallway toward what I assumed was the hospital he had made for me.

"Organics don't work that way! If someone can stand and function when hurt this badly, it just means that they're stronger and more dedicated than most, willing and able to ignore the pain to fulfill their goal." We came into a small room that was densely packed with technology and medical equipment that I couldn't recognize.

When he started stripping off her uniform, I gasped and averted my gaze. My cheeks flamed as red as my hair and wings while the AI shamelessly stripped the human to her underwear.

"Kiara, I don't have a real body. I don't even have those kinds of urges, so don't think of me as a pervert. It's much easier to heal her wounds without the uniform in the way. It needs cleaned and repaired anyway… in a combat situation like she was in she really should have had armor and shielding." Was his reply when I voiced my embarrassment.

"Take this will you?" He was focused on doing who knows what to heal the Commander, and tossed me her uniform. His hologram, which I had designed without telling him how to make another he could control, was only able to do one thing at once. But he could easily guide me through how to seal the clothing and make it pristine again; using the same methods he had on mine when he patched the tears that had been in my suit.

When I turned around, TED had just finished healing Shepard. Whatever he'd done, it was light-years ahead of what my people once had. There were just faint scars marking where major wounds had once been. We got her clothes back on, and then I told him to wake her up.

TED grabbed a small flask and dripped a single drop of amber liquid into her mouth. From the scent I could tell it was no medicine. It was actually the strongest drink my people had ever created, and very few could drink even a single drop without coughing. Shepard was no exception, as within a few seconds she sat up and started coughing.

"Am I dead?" She asked in bewilderment as she looked around the stark white room. I shook my head.

"No, though you almost were. TED here healed you up. In case you're wondering, he also made a translator for my implants. That's how I'm speaking English." I helped her off the table TED had laid her on. The hologram waved for us to follow, and the human and I started off after him.

"Ted? Sounds like an odd name for an AI." Surprisingly, considering that she must have known I was indirectly responsible for the deaths of many trillions of people, that was the first thing she asked.

"Yes, TED. It stands for 'Tellarin Emergent Defender'. To be honest, I expected you to be hostile and lash out at me. After all, trillions have died because of TED's promise to me."

"I don't blame you at all. You had no way of knowing that this would be how he carried out the promise. And besides, all that matters to me is that you called them off. That my world and all the others are safe now." She tried to sound cheerful and relieved, but I could still detect undertones of sadness and anger. I doubted many people in the galaxy in this time-period would be as understanding. I'd have to keep it a secret that I was indirectly behind all of the deaths, at least if I ever started to travel.

"Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but we're at the transport beam." I only then noticed that we were at the first room in the Citadel that I recognized. It was one of the old transport hubs, the violet beam of light shimmering in the air. TED himself didn't need to use the console to change the destination, which he obviously did. "Commander, this will take you to the dock where your ship currently is. Just press the button on the wall once you get through and the false-wall will slide open and let you out into the terminal. Kiara and I have some things to talk over before she comes through."

The human nodded and stepped through the violet beam. She vanished instantly, and TED turned to face me.

"It's so good to finally see you awake again. I can't even express how sorry I am that you nearly died protecting me. That you had to kill the last of your own race for us." TED's voice was choked, almost as if he were sobbing. I hugged him and patted his holographic back.

"It's alright TED. You know that you and your brothers and sisters were like my own flesh and blood. Like the children I never had. The others were wrong for what they did, and I couldn't stand by while they killed my creations. I don't blame you for the deaths of all the other Tellari, or the deaths since. You fulfilled the promise, after all. Nothing has happened like with the Leviathans, or like with my own people."

"Thank you Kiara. You have no idea how much I've worried that you'd be furious at me for what I did." He stepped back from my hug and gave me a sad smile. "Step through; it'll take you to your old rooms. All your stuff is inside. I've kept the last project we had going in stasis as well, maybe we should finish it soon."

With that I stepped through the light and came out in the private access terminal in my rooms. Everything was exactly how I had left it the last time I was in here, even after billions of years. My bed was still ruffled and unmade, my combat suit over the back of a chair. Clothes were scattered everywhere, I'd never been a really tidy person, and my workbench was cluttered with half-assembled weapons.

I reminisced in times long past as I walked through all of the familiar rooms. Finally I flopped down on my still-levitating bed, feeling the gel-like material conform to my body. I could have lain there for days, but I probably needed to go down to the docking bay. I would have to have TED unlock the sealed sections of the station, and let the current inhabitants of this galaxy into the old science labs and gun ports, as well as the dry-docks and armories, and the housing complexes that had been sealed off and hidden for many years.

"_TED, are you going to reveal your existence?" _I sent through my implant to the AI.

"_I don't think I should. Everyone in this age distrusts synthetics, as they should, and have outlawed artificial life. Only one race of synthetics is still alive, in this age, but they have made peace and become almost organic in mindset. But no, I won't reveal myself. I'll help from behind the scenes, and swear Shepard to secrecy. I hope you won't mind explaining how to work some of the systems in the meantime."_

"_Maybe you can write a memory drive with all the info they'll need, and after a week or two I'll give it to them saying I wrote it?"_

"_That might work. You should go down now; Shepard's ship is unloading its crew. I've already set the station's arms to fold back into normal position, and am flagging the locations of any and all survivors inside the station. Be sure to point out the map to them on the terminals here."_

I sent the equivalent of a nod through the implant, and then stepped into the beam of light again. This time I came out in a small room that opened into a docking terminal, near the airlock which ships were meant to dock with. The airlock doors were open, and people of various races were trickling out of it. They were all congratulating Commander Shepard.

Using the data TED had sent me, I identified the race of the ones already out. There was a Quarian in his or her environmental suit, a Turian male, a human leaning on a robotic body modeled after a human female, an Asari, and another human dressed like a soldier. More humans filtered out of the ship, followed by one figure that wasn't included in the data from my AI. He immediately drew my eyes as I walked over, the other people staring at me while I did so they were probably wondering what exactly I was. After all, the wings did tend to freak out other races even back in my time. I didn't care what people thought though, as it felt good to finally get to stretch them out again.

I seemed to catch the alien's eyes just as much as he caught mine. What looked like a shell or thickened layer of skin shaped its head into a distinctive shape, with the skin surrounding it a pale-blue gray. He had four eyes, two larger and set on either side of the small ridge with his four nostril slits and two smaller set beside the larger ones. Each eye seemed to have split pupils… and I immediately pegged whatever his race was as being apex hunters. Why else would they need so many eyes? I reluctantly looked away as the commander turned to me.

"Oh, Commander Shepard, I don't think I ever formally introduced myself." I extended my hand to her for a handshake. She was surprised by that, apparently it wasn't a custom among many alien races. But it had been for my people. Her grip was firm; her hand calloused from extensive use of weapons. "I'm Kiara. My people didn't really use surnames. Titles earned throughout our lives could be used, but I'd rather not share those."

"Commander Julia Shepard of the SSV Normandy SR-2. I'm with the United Systems Alliance, the main human body of government. I'm also a Spectre of the Citadel Council… if anything's left of it that is. But enough of that; let me introduce you to my crew and dear friends."

Following that, the human introduced me to the others gathered with her. I filed away most of the names, but others I focused on more. Like the Asari, Liara T'Soni. Or the Turian, Garrus Vakarian. The Quarian, Tali'Zorah was interesting as well. But the most interesting, by far, was the robotic body. Shepard had introduced it as EDI, a human-made AI. I tilted my head slightly and tried to contact her with my implants, but got no response. I would definitely have to talk with her later, but for now I just sent TED and Harbinger a message that the Humans had an AI with them.

But Shepard didn't introduce the figure that had caught so much of my attention at first. The unidentified alien that stood apart from the crew, his eyes still locked on me.

"I don't mean to be rude, but who and what is he?" I inclined my head at the alien in question as I asked the question. "He doesn't match any of the races in my files."

Before the commander or anyone else could respond, the robotic AI stepped up to me and curiously inclined her head. "Your files? Are you a synthetic as well?"

"No." I shook my head and gave a sad smile as my thoughts drifted back to my younger days in the Tellarin Academy. "I'm mostly organic. The wealthier and more influential members of my species used to get neural-net implants to link into what your people call the extranet. There were many different kinds of implants, and I have one that was still experimental. I have files on the current races of the galaxy. He's not on them."

My answer seemed to satisfy the AI. It, or rather 'She' from the voice and body, stepped back.

"I could say the same about you." I barely resisted the urge to jump as the alien spoke up from behind me. I couldn't believe that I'd slipped up so much that he had managed to sneak up behind me. "You show up, out of the blue, on a station that until recently was sealed and occupied by the Reapers. Yet you don't have a mark on you. To my knowledge, in the past hundred thousand years there have been no races at all similar to you. You look almost like these primitive humans, but you have wings. And even with a brief glance, I can tell there are other differences."

"Past hundred-thousand years?" I chuckled and crossed my arms. I only now noticed that I was much taller than the humans and aliens. This alien, whatever he was, was about the same height as me; he was seven feet tall in the current measurement system. "I've been in stasis for much longer than that. For over three billion years actually… from what I've seen so far the galaxy has changed more than I ever thought possible."

The alien's voice was harsh and uncaring to the sadness that was really starting to sink in. "That still doesn't answer my question. So I'll ask again; who, and what, are you?" He stared down at me, like he believed he was superior to me, but I just glared back at him, my eyes alight with challenge.

"As I already said, my name's Kiara." I practically spat out, anger at this condescending stranger evident in my voice, as I decided some bragging was in order. "I'm the last surviving member of the Arionata race. I was once a member of the governing Horad Council, and the head scientist in charge of the Ascension Project. I led the fights on Transia and Felnor. I personally organized the successful defense of the prestigious Tellarin Academy. My creations won us the war against the Leviathans. Now who, pray tell, are you?"

"Javik is my name. I'm the last living member of the Prothean race. I was the commander of a million soldiers put in stasis beneath what the humans call Eden Prime. I'm the only one that survived, and as such, am the Avatar of Vengeance." His condescending tone irked me more than it should have. As furious as I was at Javik's superior attitude, I resisted the urge to attack him.

"Commander, I'd like to speak with you in private for a moment." I spun on my heel and stalked away from the infuriating Prothean. I waved for the human woman to follow, and I heard her footsteps as she walked behind me towards one of the terminals corners. This wasn't a very important terminal, so aside from a security checkpoint leading in there was just a wall of windows and small sitting area with a few vid-screens. It was the corner of this area that I took the human to.

"Okay, so what is it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked in a fairly loud whisper.

"There are three things. One, TED would rather it stay a secret that he exists. He'll help from behind the scenes, and I'll give whoever runs the station a memory drive with everything they need to know about the station on it before I leave." I responded in a whisper quite a bit softer than Shepard's.

"I can understand that. EDI doesn't like people knowing that she's an unshackled AI either. What are the other two things?"

"I'd rather it stay between you and me that I made Harbinger and TED sentient, and that a promise made to me is the reason that what you call the 'Reapers' have killed so many trillions of people. Especially not to that Prothean. He said he was the Avatar of Vengeance, so I assume he wants revenge for his race's demise. And he doesn't seem to be someone that I'd want angry with me."

"Alright. And the third thing?"

"I want to go with you and your crew when you leave this station. There's nothing left for me here, and I want to see the galaxy as it is now. Maybe go to the ruins of the worlds I once knew."

"I can understand that. I'll let you come, if the crew agrees. But it will probably be a few weeks until the situation here's taken care of and we can leave."

"I'm fine with that. Now let's get your crew and find a terminal; TED put in a map showing all survivors on the station."

As we turned and gathered the others, I saw Javik staring at me.

His gaze was filled with a burning hatred that it had lacked before. He couldn't have overheard the conversation… could he?

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**Author's Note: So, what do you think so far?**


	3. Chapter Two

**Author's Note: This one is from Javik's PoV.**

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Two days. Two whole fucking days of knowing that the winged bitch was responsible for not only my people's destruction, but thousands upon thousands of other sentient race's as well. My blood boiled in fury knowing that the person to wreak my vengeance on was so close, but so untouchable. Commander Shepard had made it quite clear to everyone that this 'Kiara' was a friend. It didn't help that she knew everything about this damned station, and disappeared each night into some unknown set of rooms.

I growled at the uselessness I was feeling right now, and punched the wall. I cursed and drew back my bruised fingers, wishing that there was something easier to break than the solid steel that made up the wall. My anger was so intense that even I could smell the scent of it, and that just served to help fuel it. What I wouldn't do for a chance to finally avenge my people. I didn't care that she'd helped us find the few hundred survivors of the slaughter here, or that she'd shown the hastily appointed council entire new wings. All that mattered was my oath of vengeance.

Angry as I was, I knew I'd never be able to get to sleep. So I put my armor back on and grabbed my rifle. It looked like I'd be stalking the silent and bloodstained corridors again tonight. The crews that the Alliance fleet, and others, had sent to help rebuild may have picked up most of the bodies already, but it would take years until this place was back to how it used to be, how it had been when Shepard brought me here to visit during our journey to stop the Reapers.

I didn't even acknowledge the fearful salute from the guard at the hastily repaired security checkpoint as I walked through. He knew better than to ask where I was going and even his weak sense of smell must have been able to notice the angry scent that trailed behind me. I bypassed the elevator that would take me to the different areas of the Presidium, or to the more damaged and once populated Wards. Instead I walked through a side corridor and out onto one of the many balconies that circled the Presidium.

"What are you doing out here Javik?" The slight electronic buzz in the words told me it was the Quarian speaking. Of all the primitives I was forced to work with, she was my least favorite. Not just because her people had ended up making a synthetic race like my people had once fought, but also because of their need for environment suits everywhere they went. It marked them as weak, unworthy in the eyes of my people.

It didn't help that the suit made it impossible for me to track her by scent, as I did with everyone else. My anger leaked into my reply as I spoke. "Nothing to do with you, Quarian." After that I turned and started walking along the curved walkway that circled along the Presidium, trying to leave the primitive behind where she stood looking at glimmering silver lakes below.

"C'mon Javik, lighten up. The Reapers are gone, and your people are avenged. There's no need to be all surly." I tensed and turned around, an accusatory finger going up before I even spoke.

"Lighten up? How do you expect me to 'Lighten up' when the sentient machines that killed my people are still out there? They might have left, but they're not dead. And I can't rest until I either get complete vengeance and wipe out all of them, or until I die trying." I was nearly growling as I hissed out those words, and then stalked away.

After nearly fifteen minutes going along the balcony, my anger had cooled somewhat. I had to admit, I'd only seen a few views as scenic as this. I wondered if my people had kept the Citadel like this when we ran it. We might have… from what I'd learned from our archives there was a time before the Reapers when we Protheans had valued art and beauty more than warfare.

I stiffened as an unexpected scent came to me. Renewed anger and excitement ran through my veins, for underneath the scents of metal and the faint scents from far below was that damned Arionata's scent! I broke into a run, un-collapsing my rifle, and began to follow the scent trail. I didn't know enough about them to tell what emotion the scent was associated with, but I just knew it was hers. And that it was recent. Recent enough that I would finally get my vengeance!

When two tiny figures came into sight, I slowed and approached as stealthily as I could. Once I got close enough, it became apparent that one was the object of my hatred. The other… seemed to be a hologram of some kind. My teeth were bared in a predatory grin; nobody was around to stop me.

"I have to admit TED, I'm glad you managed to talk me into coming down here. It looks so much better like this than when it was just plain grey metal." Her voice made me even angrier, but I wasn't close enough for a good clear shot yet. "Wait here for a minute. I'm going to stretch my wings."

I growled in frustration as her wings started fluttering so fast that they were just a crimson blur. Her head whipped around as she rose from the ground. I cursed in my own language as she dropped back down and started walking towards me. The hologram trailed along behind her.

"Look, I know you're there. I know you overheard my conversation with Commander Shepard, and that you know the Reapers wiped out your people and so many others because of a promise TED and Harbinger made to me." I scowled and stood up as she spoke, automatically taking aim at her with my gun. "I wouldn't shoot that if I were you. Do you think I'm dumb enough to go around without shielding? Besides, TED would roast you if you tried."

I growled low, so low that I doubted she would hear it, and considered shooting her anyway. Then I reluctantly let the gun fall to my side.

"I know you want vengeance for your people, and you think killing me will put you one step closer to it. So let's get this over with now."

I narrowed all four of my eyes as she stepped closer to me. I stood my ground, not willing to back down.

"I, Kiara, also known as 'The Betrayer', 'The Blood Mother', and 'The Crimson Flower', formally challenge you to a duel. Do you accept?" Her face was serious, not at all like the face of someone who was bragging, as she spoke. The titles just raised more questions about what she'd done to her people to earn them.

The concept of a duel was quite familiar to me. Even with what this winged bitch was, it would sully my honor to decline a formal challenge. It seemed like perhaps her people had a similar concept of it to mine, as the words were very similar to formal challenges the Protheans of old used.

"I accept."

"The duel will be fought using no weapons. It will end when one of us surrenders, is knocked unconscious, or is otherwise unable to continue. If I win, you will forsake your pledge of vengeance and give up this petty anger and hostility against me. If you win, I will allow you to kill me." She listed off the conditions. High-stakes really, for both of us, but I was confident I could win. "Do you swear on your honor that you will abide by these conditions?"

"Yes. I swear on my honor as a Prothean and a soldier to abide by the rules."

I tossed my gun away, and then we started circling each other. My three-fingered hands balled into fists as I lunged at her. She easily side-stepped my lunge, and grabbed my arm. I barely managed to jerk out of her grasp before she flipped me over. I might have under-estimated her a little… now I could see that she moved with the lithe grace of an experienced fighter.

"What? Did you think that I was some rookie?" She taunted with a chuckle. "You don't graduate the Tellarin Academy with full honors unless you know how to fight."

My only response was another growl. I would wait for her to attack now… and I didn't have to wait long. She darted forward and tried to kick me in the chest, but I stepped backwards and grabbed her leg. She grunted in pain as my claws dug long furrows down her calf, as a result of her yanking it out of my grasp. The scent of blood was intoxicating, really, and it made me feel much stronger. So I threw another punch straight at Kiara before she could recover.

This woman was damned strong! She caught the blow in her own hand, and then I felt five sharp points sinking into my flesh. Apparently her people had claws as well… at least as long as my people's. She twisted her grip around, causing her talons to nearly rip off the end of my hand. Both her blood and mine were making the floor treacherous as she hit the bone and stopped. She let go and I yanked the hand back, letting it dangle limply at my side while I shoved the pain to the back of my mind.

"… ugh. You're better than I anticipated." She hissed out through gritted teeth as she limped backwards, favoring her injured leg. "I can smell your anger… you obviously expected this to be over by now." Ok, now that surprised me.

"I did. I'm surprised… haven't met many people that can hold their own against me. Or many non-Protheans that can read the pheromones that mark our emotions. I'm guessing that your people evolved as hunters too?"

"Yes. The most literal translation of 'Arionata' into English is 'Last Shadow'. We were the last shadows many creatures ever saw." She explained. As she opened her mouth to say more, I lunged forward with my unwounded hand. The punch was a feint, however, but she somehow caught onto it. She jumped up and I stumbled forward as my leg met none of the resistance I'd expected. Before I could stabilize myself, she punched me hard in the chest.

A ton of the force carried through my armor, and the breath whooshed out of my chest. Several pops and cracks reached my ears as I started falling backwards. Before I could even get enough breath back to think, the woman had grabbed my good arm. Between the space of two heartbeats, I found myself flying through the air over her shoulder. Without relinquishing her grip on my arm, she pivoted around and slammed me into the ground. Hard.

The projection of the thickened carapace-like skin at the top of my head hit first. It smashed inwards, instantly giving me a throbbing headache, and most likely leaving me concussed. The slight ridge that housed my nostrils hit next, and the bone that made it up splintered. My lower jaw smashed upwards, and I barely managed to keep from chipping any of my teeth. I could not, however, stop myself from nearly biting off the tip of my tongue and through the lining of my mouth.

"Do you surrender, or am I going to have to knock you out?" Kiara called down from her position on top of me. One foot was in the bloody mess covering the ground, and the other was on my armored chest. As much as I hated to admit it, I'd been beaten fair and square. It seemed my vengeance was over, and surprisingly, I was fine with that.

"Ugh… I surrender." I grunted out once I finally got my breath back. She took her foot off my chest, and then offered a hand to help me up. I stubbornly refused to take it, needing to retain some vestige of pride, and struggled to my feet by myself.

"Well, now that your anger and vow of vengeance is done, I hope we can get to know each other more. After all, we're the only ones in this galaxy who represent the last of our respective races." She motioned for me to follow her.

I noticed that the entire lower area of her left pant leg was stained red with blood. The white uniform she was wearing was ruined, it seemed. She was heavily favoring her wounded leg, and one of her hands was dangly limply at her side with the fingers bent in odd directions. I guessed that the pops and cracks had been her fingers breaking… at least until I felt the pain in my chest when I breathed in and looked down. There was a big dent in my armor, with a few small cracks branching out across the metal from it.

"You don't look so good… and I doubt I look very good right now either. I have to admit, you're one hell of a fighter. I definitely wouldn't want to fight you with actual weapons." Kiara looked over her shoulder at me as we walked to another of the transport beams. Most of my anger had faded by now, and had been replaced by a wary respect.

I spat out a mouthful of my greenish blood before replying. "The same goes for you. If you'd been born a Prothean you'd probably have been a commander like me, at the least. So, where are we going?"

"I'm sure, as you were eavesdropping on my conversation with Shepard, that you know that TED is an AI. He, and Harbinger as well, are creations of mine. Almost like children that I never had." I nodded at this, even though she couldn't see it. I was still wary of synthetic life, but after several months on the Normandy I'd learned to tolerate them. "Anyway, TED IS the Citadel. He runs it, and has since I ordered it built as a mobile fortress and shipyard. There are some parts that I don't intend for the public to ever learn about, such as my quarters and the areas that this era's races aren't ready for, but the rest he's already opened up. Right now we're going to a small medical center that TED set up a century or so after I nearly died. We need to get these wounds patched up."

After that we lapsed into silence. We were leaving a bloody trail, but neither of us cared much. Once we passed through the light, we were going down a completely different metallic hallway. My eyes were drawn, due to lack of interesting surroundings, toward Kiara's back. Oddly, there was a fairly large rectangle of cloth missing around the base of her wings. The crimson wings, which had to be at least four feet long each, were folded down mostly covering the missing patch and going over to curl around to her lower stomach. I couldn't help but notice that she kept them from touching the skin in the open area… so it couldn't be there just to provide freedom of movement for them.

Once we got to a room jam-packed with medical equipment, the hologram shimmered into existence again.

"Javik, you should go first. Your hand is worse than mine… and your face kinda has bone fragments jutting from it everywhere." Her words brought the pain that I'd shoved into the back of my mind to the forefront again. Now that I was forced to think about it, I could barely stand. It took everything I had to get up on the table that the hologram motioned to. Somehow it actually managed to pick up my hand… that was when it really hit through my mind how advanced Kiara's people had been. If they had holograms that could actually manipulate physical objects, who knows how else they did it.

"You two nearly killed each other out there… conflicts like that don't make any sense to me. Kiara, you just about ruined this poor guy's hand. From my scans, it looks like almost all the tendons are severed, and only the bones are really intact." The AI controlling the hologram droned on, while carefully looking over my hand. It really did look bad, what with the blood gushing from it and the fact that I couldn't move my fingers at all.

"Sorry Javik, but we're going to have to put you under for this." I'd only barely begun to growl in indignation when a drop of bitter liquid dripped into my mouth. I swallowed as a reflex, and in seconds my vision faded to black.

* * *

A burning liquid sliding down my throat woke me up. It felt like just a drop, but I still had to resist the urge to cough. The lingering taste from it in my mouth was actually fairly good… like some of the stronger brews I was used to drinking before the stasis. Unless it was medicine of some kind, I'd have to get myself some of this stuff.

"Welcome back to the land of the living. I patched up your face and hand." The hologram intoned as I swung my legs off the table. He walked over to where Kiara was unconscious, and dripped a little liquid from a flask in his hand into her mouth. She sat up coughing at the same time as I stood up. "You also seem to have cracked a few ribs along with the bones broken on your face. I'd recommend a few weeks without any heavy impacts to those areas so the bones can heal completely. They're back in place, but the bonds are fairly weak right now."

I tuned out his explanation to Kiara on her wounds, instead focusing on my hand. At first glance, it looked like it had never even been hurt. Then I looked closer, and saw just the slightest hint of a scar going around the entire hand. Just a band of grey that was a few shades lighter than the rest. My armor was still dented, but the burn in my chest was gone. Neither my hand nor face hurt anymore, and even the headache from my concussion was gone. When I ran my hand across my head, I couldn't feel anything different from how it was before.

"It still amazes me how much TED managed to further medical equipment. This is light-years ahead of Arionata healthcare, and in our time that was the best in the galaxy."

"I wish my people had had stuff like this. I'd have a couple dozen fewer scars if we had." I grumbled as we walked back through the hallway to the transport beam. I was just grumbling because it was a habit to me; I actually felt better than I had in years. But I still wasn't tired.

"Well, here we are." The woman who I had so recently hated said. I just grunted as we stopped in front of the beam. I didn't know how to work the controls, and wasn't willing to step through without knowing where it would take me.

"I can have the beam take you back to the Normandy's docking bay, or you could come with me up to my rooms." My back stiffened when I heard that, and my mind went to places it really shouldn't have. The image that suddenly popped into my head, which was of Kiara bent over some piece of furniture as I took her from behind, caused my body to react.

"Well, that's the most forward a woman's ever been to me." I commented, struggling to keep a straight face.

Her cheeks flamed as red as her wings while she hastily tried to explain. "I didn't mean it like that! I just want to talk!" It was too late however, the damage had been done and my armored leggings were uncomfortably tight.

Apparently her unintentionally perverted wording had affected her too; underneath my own scent, which actually had a hint of my own arousal in it, and hers, there was an unfamiliar scent to me. It smelled sweet… and I had a feeling it was her pheromones.

"Sure. I have nothing else to do, and I don't think I'll be able to sleep, so why not?" I shrugged, hoping that she didn't notice that my cheeks were flushed in my people's version of a blush, and glad that my armor covered the red frills on my neck and hips so that she couldn't see how they'd swelled a little with embarrassment and arousal.

And with that, she led the way through the portal. I followed, and stepped out into her quarters.


	4. Chapter Three

**Author's Note: I'd like to mention that some things on Prothean appearance, habits, physiology, etc. came from voltagelisa, the author of another truly awesome Mass Effect story!**

**Note, any text in bold italics is a dream.**

* * *

My cheeks were still burning from the awkward moment outside of the transport hub. I have to admit, that was a really poor choice of words that I'd used. It didn't help that I hadn't had sex for years, even before the stasis, and that his reaction had brought dirty thoughts up to the forefront of my mind. I didn't even know him, and just a few short hours ago he'd wanted to kill me! I shouldn't be thinking about him bending me over and forcefully taking me!

I heard Javik's footsteps following me as I walked over and plopped down in a chair. Without asking, the Prothean took a seat on the nearby couch. He was looking around, but his eyes came back to me fairly quickly. The only thing he'd found interesting in the room, aside from me, was my weapons table. Or more specifically, his rifle laying on it.

"I had TED bring it up. I think I might be able to modify it for you, if you want." I explained.

"That would be nice, if you think you can do it. What are the other things there?"

"Old projects I was working on before going into stasis and others that I took apart for, well, parts and never got around to using again." I got up and walked over to the table that was covered with weapons. "I think there's a custom pistol here that I won't ever use. You want it?"

"Maybe." I finally found the bulky silver pistol, and turned to where Javik had stood up. I tossed it to him after making sure the plasma synthesizer was still inside.

"Want to test it out in my firing range?" He nodded as he looked over the silvery surface, and the aesthetic blue lines going along the large barrel. I motioned for him to follow as I walked through a door behind the weapons table. "Oh yeah, be careful. The floor's wet from when I cleaned earlier."

I held the door open for Javik and sealed it behind him once he came in. Then I walked over to the control console and put three holograms down the firing range at short, middle, and long ranges.

"Take a shot when you're ready. You'll need to aim high, this tends to drop a lot in a shot. The holograms will change from blue to various other colors depending on the damage it would have done to an enemy."

I'd barely finished talking when he pulled the trigger. He hadn't aimed high enough, and the blue sphere of flaming plasma hit the ground at the hologram's feet. The wave of flame that burst forward from the impact scorched its feet, which then turned a dark red.

"Wow this thing drops a lot… it doesn't use mass-effect fields or thermal clips, does it?" He asked after he corrected the angle and sent a shot directly through the hologram's chest.

"Nope, it doesn't. It has a self-contained plasma synthesizer inside that fills itself fairly quickly. You get about five shots from it when full, but every three seconds or so it gathers enough for another shot. It shoots with compressed gasses, which accounts for the drop." I explained as he fired a few more times down into the further targets. I have to admit, he is a great shot.

"If you don't need it… I'll take it. Looks like it could do some major damage."

We didn't talk as he took a few more shots.

"Look, I'm sorry for cracking your armor. I could repair it, if you'd like. I could probably upgrade it with better shield and barrier generators too."

"That would be nice. Do you want the armor now?"

"Errr… you do have clothes on under it, right?" My cheeks flamed red again at the thought of him stripping off the armor, and then… no, can't think about that! I'm wearing my white uniform, after all, and if I got wet it would be obvious. He smirked at me and gave an exaggerated wink with one of his eyes.

"Yes, I do. Though I bet you wish I didn't. Now shoo, go out into your main room. I'll take the armor off in here and bring it out to you."

I walked out and this time sat on the couch near the holo-screen. I could see the door to the firing range, and after a minute Javik walked out. True to his word, it seemed that he was clothed still. A grey shirt was what I could currently see. He tossed his breastplate to me first, and I caught it and set it down on the couch. I'd look at it later. I caught the leggings as he threw them, and turned back to talk.

The words died on my lips when I noticed the grey piece of fabric snagged on the leggings, and the rather impressive package hanging between the Prothean's legs. My eyes must have widened as my cheeks flamed bright red while my mouth hung open. He didn't seem to notice that his pants were off, and I couldn't tear my attention away from his semi-erect manhood. The head and maybe an inch of darker blue flesh were sticking out of a blue-grey foreskin that waggled back and forth with his balls as he walked.

I felt my core warming up at the mere sight, and I couldn't tear my mind away from an image of him taking me right then and there. Until, of course, his foot slid out from under him as he walked toward the table again. He let out a startled grunt as he crashed to the floor, and his forward momentum carried him along forward.

His grunt turned into a high-pitched shriek of pain as he slid at a fairly impressive speed into one of the legs of the table, the hardened metal smashing directly into his most sensitive parts. Even though I felt the area between my legs dampening from what I'd seen, I started giggling at the sight and sound of the Prothean's exquisite pain. And once I started, I just couldn't stop. Even when he managed to clamber back to his feet and glare at me, I just kept giggling.

When I finally stopped, I stood up. "I told you to be careful, that the floor was wet. You should've listened." I chided.

He just pointed at my lower areas, and my eyes flicked down. At the same time as I noticed the large transparent wet spot at my crotch, I realized he was still naked from the waist down. He noticed at the same time, and his hands went to cover himself. My face was still crimson as I bent down and grabbed his shorts from the armored leggings. I flung them at him, and he quickly pulled them on as I covered the transparent spot on my pants.

I noticed the swollen red frills around the base of his neck, which had been hidden under his armor before, as he walked away with a noticeable bulge in his shorts.

"This never happened." I called out as he rushed toward the transit beam.

"Agreed."He said over his shoulder just before he stepped through… I hope he ends up in the docks.

My face was still crimson as I locked out my private terminal so that nothing could come in or leave.

* * *

Four hours later I'd finally finished repairing and upgrading Javik's armor. I swapped out the shield generator embedded in it for three separate cyclonic generators of mine, and put an anti-laser reflective gloss on top just in case. It had taken twice as long as normal to do it, because the entire time my thoughts were distracted by completely inappropriate images of Javik. This hadn't been helped by the fact that, even though he wasn't here anymore, Javik's scent was everywhere. I blamed part of the problem on pheromones from him. My core hadn't cooled down at all throughout the entire time, if anything heating up and making me even wetter, and the crotch of my pants was practically nonexistent with how much could be seen through it.

I left Javik's armor sitting on my workbench, and then decided against taking a shower. I was too tired to do much of anything except stumble into my bedroom. I plopped down on the edge of the bed and stripped off all my clothes. I tossed them over into the corner; I'd flash-clean them later. Before long, my bra and panties joined them in the ragged pile. While I'd originally intended to relieve some tension before going to sleep, I found myself drifting away before I even got around to reaching down there.

* * *

_**I opened my eyes to a pale green glow. I tried to get out of bed, but immediately realized something was off. I wasn't naked on top of simple white sheets like I had been when I fell asleep. Instead, I was in some kind of clingy green dress, under fluffy and overly hot covers in an old-fashioned bed. **_

_**I finally managed to kick back the heavy covers, and swing my legs off the bed. I looked down, and growled in outrage; the green dress was way too short! It barely even covered my rear, and left far too much cleavage exposed at the top. I was going to punch whoever put me into this in the face.**_

_**I hopped off the bed, confused by the fact that the floor was rough and gravelly, and took a closer look at my surroundings. The walls were stone, carved and polished into a smooth shining surface with no sharp corners and marred only in two places. One was a tiny slot, glazed with crystal, that let a thin beam of light shine in and onto another crystal, this one an emerald apparently, dangling from the ceiling. Somehow, it served to suffuse the room with green light.**_

_**The other obstruction was a gilded doorway, which appeared to be the only exit from whatever strange room I was in. As soon as I started toward it, however, it swung open and a figure stepped through. It took me a few seconds to recognize it; the figure was Javik. He wasn't wearing the armor that I knew was still sitting on my workbench, and instead was draped in crimson and burgundy robes that dragged the ground as he walked. His neck, however, was left bare, along with the seemingly swollen red frills around its base.**_

_**I breathed in, his scent far stronger than my own to my nose, and almost instantly I dampened. Underneath the scent of him, there was the scent of pheromones that I was now sure were associated with arousal. Unbidden, more thoughts of him tearing open this dress and taking me popped up in my head. The scent of my own arousal leaked out as well, and Javik took a deep breath through his nose. He growled so low that it was almost a purr.**_

_**I shuddered at the noise, and matched each step he took as he stalked toward me. My thighs were damp, and only one thought was echoing through my head: I was going to have him. I found myself wishing I could growl like he was, but it just wasn't in the Arionata's physiology.**_

_**We met in a whirlwind of passion in the center of the room. Cloth tore as we literally clawed the clothes off of each other, not caring when one of us happened to nick the other. His skin was far thicker than mine, and he just seemed to get more and more aroused as my talons scraped his sides. As for me, the pain just made me feel better and better as we fought for dominance. We fell onto the floor, rolling around on the rough grit and gravel, until we hit the side of the bed and stopped. **_

_**I writhed underneath him as he pinned my arms against the wood, careful not to break my wings, and knelt between my forced-open legs. His head, which was bent down so close to my slit that I could feel his warm breath, and torso obscured my view of the thing I wanted most. I gasped and tensed underneath him, my writhing stopping for the briefest second, as his tongue flicked out and licked from the bottom to the top.**_

_**After that, most of my writhing was from the sheer pleasure. I never stopped resisting, even when he plunged his tongue deep inside of me. Or when he replaced his tongue with the fingers on one hand and started nipping gently at my breasts. I only submitted when he sank his teeth into my shoulder, breaking the skin just enough to leave a mark and cause much pain, but not hard enough to hurt me badly.**_

_**I stopped my writhing as he lifted me up and set my ass on the edge of the bed. My arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck, stroking at his frills, as I brought my head up and hungrily kissed him. My wings quickly wrapped around to cover his and my shoulders, the soft crimson feathers making both of us shudder. Our tongues darted out between our razor-sharp teeth and continued the fight for dominance as I wrapped my legs around his waist, drawing him closer as he thrust toward me...**_

* * *

"... up!" TED's voice came through the speaker system I had set up just to talk to him without using my implant. My head was hazy, and it took me a second to yank my mind out of the lust-filled fog from what I now realized was just a dream. I groaned in disappointment as I realized that it hadn't actually happened, that Javik and I hadn't been about to have sex. My nipples ached from how erect they were, and my thighs were a sticky wet mess. I was coated in a sheen of sweat from the dream. My hands automatically went down to bring myself to the peak I had been oh-so-cruelly deprived of in the dream.

"Kiara, I don't care what you're doing in there, but you better stop it and get your ass down here to the Normandy! You're already half an hour late for the meeting with the new council!" Commander Shepard's voice cut in. I didn't really care how the hell she got onto the comm; I was distracted by anger at myself for forgetting about the meeting I'd scheduled myself. I was supposed to already be down there, giving them the memory drive with everything they needed to know! With that done, Shepard could start trying to get permission to leave the Citadel, and I could go with her.

"Shit, I'll be right down. Just stall them, say that I was working on an important project that I couldn't interrupt." I called out, before rushing to get ready.

I wiped the crease between my legs dry on my sheets, and then grabbed a simple silver sleeveless dress to wear. I threw on my panties from yesterday, but didn't bother with a bra. It would take too long to get on.

I rushed over to the transport beam, grabbing Javik's armor as an afterthought, and made sure the memory drive was in my pocket. With that done, I set it to take me to the Normandy's docking bay. I stepped through and came out to an annoyed looking Commander Shepard flanked by two of her crew.

"Important project?" She shook her head skeptically and motioned for me to follow. "C'mon, the council's even more annoyed than I am. You can't keep the new galactic leaders waiting just because you slept in from messing around with Javik last night." I flushed red as she gave me a wink and laughed.

"It's nothing like that!" I protested. "I was just upgrading his armor!"

"Sure you were. If that's the case, why did he come out of the transit beam in his undershirt and a pair of tight shorts with a huge bulge in them? Or why he was cradling his balls as if they hurt? And can you explain why his face was flushed?" She chided, almost like a teenage girl, as the marines on either side of us tried to hide their smiles.

I was silent for the rest of the walk, deciding to just ignore the ribbing Shepard was giving me. After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to what I assumed was the conference room. An Asari, a Human, a Turian, and a Salarian were seated around the table in the middle, engaged in idle conversation. Javik wasn't there, so I just dumped his armor under the table. I'd give it to him once I got this over with.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Councilors. I lost track of time while working on an important project, and I only just realized how late I was." I apologized using the same voice I had once used as a member of the Horad Council. I didn't take a seat, and remained standing. "I'm sure you're all anxious to get to the reason I called you here today."

They murmured their assent, and I drew the memory drive from my pocket. This wasn't the standard version from back in my time; it was a prototype TED had made. It not only contained data, but didn't even need a terminal for use. When activated, it projected a holographic screen which could be used to access the data. It could also be hooked up to the Citadel's main control panel and would translate everything into readable languages to allow full control of the Citadel for the Council.

"I know you're anxious to get the Citadel back online, and that it will take a long time to get everything repaired. The Keepers focusing on their own priorities won't help yours, and that's one of the reasons I'm giving you this." I gestured at the drive and activated it. "This drive is also a mobile terminal, and it is linked directly to the Citadel's controls. It has everything you'll ever need to know about the station, and you'll be able to activate the ancient defenses, control the Keepers, and..."

Over the next hour I went on to explain how to use the memory drive. I showed them its more complicated features, and coded it to their DNA. Only me and the Councilors could use it now, and I showed them how to re-code it whenever one of them was replaced.

_"Kiara, I need you at our lab. Our project is going critical. There are no more improvements that can be made to it, it's either attach it now or lose something that you put ten years into making." _TED's encoded communication popped up in my mind, and I froze mid-sentence. His urgent tone, and the fact that my project might be lost, immediately made me excuse myself.

"Shit..." I muttered under my breath. "My project's gone critical, I've got to go. The drive has a instructions on it in every language if you need any more help." By now my wings were fluttering with my anxiety, easing a little bit of my weight off the ground.

Before they could even react, I was racing out of the room and to the transit beam. I dimly heard Shepard saying that she'd give Javik his armor, but I was already past the security checkpoint and rushing out the airlock. Trying to go faster, I gave a few great sweeps of my wings to propel myself forward just above the floor. My bare feet slid along the smooth metal as I stopped in front of the terminal and quickly put in the code for my lab. Then I raced through it.

It took about thirty seconds to get to the room where my latest project had been stored when I went into stasis. It had nearly been finished then, and with TED's help we had since finished it completely... but I was still wary to put it into effect. We'd run simulations, but nothing like this had ever been done before.

TED's hologram was standing at the window into the sealed room we kept the project in, watching as the silvery surface rippled and twisted, trying to break free from where it was strapped down.

"Ah, you're here." TED didn't even turn. "Have you decided if we'll let it die and waste all the efforts put into this, or if you'll use it now? You have an hour at most to decide, as the inner layers are spasming without the direction of a nervous system. It'll die, or tear itself apart from the inside, unless you link up to it."

A particularly large spasm wracked the semi-organic suit below, and a crack marred its smooth surface before vanishing. "Make that half an hour."

Should I do what I had intended when I started? Was it right for me to link up the bio-mechanical suit below to my central nervous system, and use it as the weapon of war I'd made it to be? The ever-changing suit of material synthesized from a rare form of Element Zero that didn't occur naturally might change me beyond all recognition. But it could make me nearly invincible, with the suit responding to my every thought and able to change its composition to match any material I'd ever encountered. But the thing is, we didn't know enough about this form of Eezo to predict how I'd react to it, or even if it would work as it should.

"I have a sick feeling that I'm going to regret doing this, but I'm not letting all this work be for naught. Let's do it."

* * *

**Author's Note: So, what do you all think? This update took awhile due to a really busy week on my part, what with getting a new laptop and all, but here it is. I appreciate anyone who takes the time to review.**


	5. Chapter Four

**Author's Note: Well, here's some more Javik and action. This is more filler, in truth, with nothing really important happening. Or at least, nothing that Javik sees as important.**

* * *

I grunted as I finally managed to force Garrus's arm down onto the table. He may be a Primitive, but I have to admit that he's strong. It had taken me longer to force his arm to the table than with many Protheans I had arm-wrestled back before stasis. I might not be able to find any real competition in a staring contest, but some of these people were absurdly strong for their appearances.

"Damn, I thought I had you for sure this time." The turian muttered quietly as the elevator doors opened. "Maybe next time, eh?"

"I wouldn't bet on it, Turian." I left the table we'd been sitting at, having already been done with my food before anyone else showed up, and walked over to where Kiara had just come into the room. Two of my eyes stayed focused on the gun in her hand, while the other two looked her up and down. I really hated to admit it, but she was beautiful. I couldn't really remember much of my dreams from last night, or the night before, but I had a distinct feeling that they'd involved her.

Right now she was wearing a simple white dress with a blue emblem that I couldn't recognize embroidered above the swell that marked her left breast. But the gun in her hands took my attention, thankfully, away from her. It was still the same shape as mine, mostly, but it bulged in a few places and had silver and blue glowing streaks around it.

"Catch." I easily snagged the rifle when she tossed it to me, and looked at it closer as she explained the changes she'd made. "I changed the power cell around some; it's now a miniature fusion generator. The glowing lines are power conduits to the firing mechanism, and with the excess power it should be able to remain damaging for longer distances. With a good scope, it might even work as a sniper rifle. I also added a second mode; press the button next to the trigger and it'll switch from anti-shielding to anti-armor. Remember, you actually have to keep the beam focused on a point for a few seconds for it to do much damage."

"I've trained with guns like this all my life, I don't need a reminder on the basics. I suppose that next you'll be telling me not to shoot at mirrors or anything really reflective?" I shot back sarcastically.

"No, with this kind of laser its fine to shoot reflective stuff. Just don't shoot my battle armor or yours; they're both coated with anti-laser gloss that WILL reflect it." She chuckled as I pantomimed shooting her with it. The chuckle was a little half-hearted though; it looked like she had a headache or something, and her face was tinged a little green like she was feeling sick.

"Do you know where I can find Commander Shepard?"

"The Commander is up in her rooms. Shall I call her for you?" EDI's voice came out through the ship's speakers before I could reply. That AI really bugged me sometimes... but I had to admit, she was useful.

"No, I'll go find her." For a second it looked like Kiara actually winked at me as she went back to the elevator. "It won't be too long until you can test out that gun Javik."

And then she was gone, before I could figure out what she meant. I was still trying to puzzle out the meaning when the majority of the crew came in to eat. Two buffet tables, one significantly larger than the other, held food edible to all of the alien species. Halfway through the meal, Shepard's voice came over the speakers.

"I have some good news for you all." Every conversation fell silent as we waited for Shepard to continue. "In two days, we'll be leaving on an expedition to find what we believe to be a new spacefaring race that survived the Reapers. We only have preliminary data as of now, but it seems that three inactive, yet monitored, Mass Relays have activated in the past two months."

A babble of conversation broke out once more at that. Apparently a new spacefaring was something of an excitement to these people. To me, they were just another race of primitives. But maybe they'd be more worthy than most of the ones I knew of. After all, they could have four eyes like me.

"And, on another note, the entire crew has been invited by my friend Kiara to participate in a warfare simulation later today. In two hours, anyone wishing to go should gather in the CIC."

And with that the speakers cut out. I had to admit, I was intrigued at the prospect of a simulation. If what I'd heard about Kiara's race's technology was right, we were in for a lot of fun.

* * *

I, along with everyone else on the Normandy, stood in the CIC as Kiara stepped out of the elevator with Shepard. She still looked kind of sick, but it seemed a little better. When she walked by, I noticed just the slightest change in her scent... though I couldn't place it.

"Well, I'm surprised so many of you showed up. Follow me, I'll get you all to the Sim-Room, and then I'll explain what we'll be doing." I stayed near the back of the group as we trailed behind Kiara. Everyone was making bets on what we'd be doing.

"What do you think Javik?" Tali'Zorah turned, along with Garrus and Liara, to get my opinion.

"Quarian, if I were you, I'd put my credits on it being a VR device that puts all of us into a digital world or scenario that she programs." I could catch the faint hint of a smile through her purple-tinted mask as she crossed her arms and turned back to the others. Apparently I'd reinforced her argument.

I tuned out the rest of their conversation, instead focusing my thoughts inward. Every time I thought of Kiara, I shoved her image out of my head. Even though I'd always craved a challenge in any woman I mated with, they had all been Protheans. Even if Kiara had earned my respect by beating me in a fight, she still wasn't a Prothean. One, more traditional, part of my mind said that she wasn't worthy. Another, more emotional and even rational part, said that it didn't matter; I was falling for her either way. But even if I did actually start to love her, which I told myself was very unlikely to happen, it would never work. She was fragile, she had to be to fly, and intercourse would likely result in serious injuries to her.

As she ushered people through the beam of light to wherever it was we were going, my eyes grazed over the back of her dress. Just like with her uniform, it had the missing piece of cloth around her wings. I'd have to ask about that soon... even if it would be awkward.

Kiara followed me through the beam of light, and we came out into an antechamber with just one exit. A few stragglers were still walking through the doorway, but we were the last ones out of the portal. We didn't say anything as we walked in. I joined the crowd milling around the large number of chairs arrayed around an elevated terminal, while Kiara walked up and tapped away at the terminal whilst she explained how it worked.

"Alright, here's how we're going to do this. Once I get the scenario programmed in, we'll all take a seat in those chairs. Just lean back against the headrest, and don't move when a helmet slides out. You'll go briefly unconscious, and when you wake up it'll be in the simulation." She paused and concentrated on her typing for a few seconds. "I'm not going to go through the trouble of putting in one of the more complex scenarios. We'll be divided into two teams, and the goal will be to eliminate the entirety of the other team. The computer will randomly choose the teams."

I tuned out the rest of the explanation. I intended to be the leader on whichever team I ended up on. After all, I had more combat experience than most of the others would. And, according to several older generals and teachers back when I was younger, I was the best tactical mind among the Protheans in more than four centuries.

I sat when Kiara said to, just like the others, and as the helmet slid over my head my vision faded to black.

* * *

My vision and awareness all came back in a sudden flash. I was standing, along with twelve others, in a big room with weapons of various kinds covering the walls. Ten of the others were human crew whose names I didn't know, but the other two were Liara and Tali'Zorah.

"Ok, let's talk strategy. We all want to win this, right?" I waited for them all to, uneasily, murmur their assent before I continued. "Then we should divide into two groups. The Quarian will lead one, and the Asari will lead the other. I'm going out to scout the playing field; I'll be back soon and then we can talk strategy."

As the others dispersed about the room, looking for any kind of familiar weapons or ones that they liked whilst talking strategy, I dashed over and grabbed a gun that looked exactly like my upgraded one. Apparently Kiara had programmed it in so I could test it.

I grinned as I dashed out the door and took in the landscape we'd be fighting in. Our building was one of the few whole ones among a crumbling stone cityscape. The buildings were old-fashioned stone, but broken glass and dilapidated electronics were everywhere showing that this was truly a modern city. The building I had emerged from was taller than all the others except for one, which I assumed the others had started in. Rubble could serve as stairways up to the rooftops, and there was plenty of cover as long as you stayed out of the open streets.

I dashed back to my team and explained what it was like. Fully armed, we put our hastily made strategy into action. Tali would lead a team of snipers to one of the taller intact buildings, while Liara's team would set up a chokepoint along the rooftops around the main streets. I would go on ahead, take out as many of them as I could, and lure the rest back into our trap.

I ran slower this time, and was careful to stay behind cover and peek around corners before running out of them. This strategy paid off quite well, and I came up on a two-man patrol crouched behind cover just up the road. The tower our snipers had gone to was visible, so they should be able to shoot the soldiers.

"Are the snipers in place?" I asked through the in-suit communicator.

"Yes, we're all set up. Just waiting for any sign of activity." Tali's voice came back.

"Do you have a visual on me?"

"Affirmative."

"Can you see the two soldiers behind cover up ahead?"

"No. We can't see them. Lure them closer, and we'll take them out."

I didn't reply after that, instead running straight around the corner. My rifle was set to anti-armor, and I aimed it at the cover one of the soldiers was behind. They shot back almost immediately, but my shields held long enough for me to take out theirs with the green laser from my rifle. Then, knowing that they would follow, I dashed back around the corner and ducked into cover. Just as they started to come around, two shots rang out and they both dropped.

I smirked; the plan was working perfectly so far. We hadn't lost anyone, and the other team was down two people. Then my smirk fell as everything went to hell.

A salvo of missiles flew through the air with a massive roar, rising from handheld launchers whose position I couldn't pinpoint, and struck near the base of the tall building. A few screams came in through the communicator as the building started to topple. Right onto where the other team was stationed. A few more screams came through before they all cut out.

Cursing, I tried to raise everyone. Nobody answered. I was just starting to turn and try to finish this myself when two objects collided with my shoulders from above. I fell to the ground, groaning, and managed to roll onto my back before a foot came down high on my chest, holding me down. My eyes widened as I saw Kiara standing on top of me. Or more accurately, as I saw straight up her dress to the short red hairs framing her most private of places.

"Looks like you lose again Javik." A few seconds after she said this, she pulled the trigger on the pistol in her hand. A crack of thunder rang out, and a burst of lightning tore straight through my shields and into my skull. Then everything went black.

* * *

My eyes snapped open as the helmet retracted and I came awake with a gasp. I couldn't get the last image I'd seen out of my head. Couldn't stop thinking about her standing over me with a smile, of seeing up her dress to her carefully groomed slit. At least this time I had my armor on so my erection wouldn't be too visible.

Everyone but me and Kiara gathered into a big group in one corner of the room and began talking about what had happened. I assumed about twenty-five minutes had passed in the simulation, and that the same would have gone by in real time. I walked up to where Kiara was leaning against the terminal she'd used to program the simulation, noting that her feet were bare. Maybe her people didn't need, or just didn't wear, shoes. Mine only wore them because of the poisonous plants and sharp stones that littered the ground on our homeworld and the planets we felt most at home at.

Even though she was trying to hide it, I could fairly easily tell that she was using the terminal to keep herself on her feet. A barely visible sheen of sweat covered what I could see of her skin, and I could hear her labored breathing. But her scent, while still slightly different from before, didn't smell like sickness.

"Surprised that you lost?" Her tone was normal, it didn't even sound forced, but she still seemed to be in pain and sick. She must have been referring to my still-wide eyes, but they were from the image that kept repeating inside my head. Not from surprise at losing to her; I'd gotten over that after she beat me the first time around.

"No, not that I lost. More about the fact that you're not wearing panties." I shot back with confidence that I didn't really feel. In truth, I was actually worried about her. The gasp that followed my statement sounded like it was half from actual surprise, but mostly from pain. "You really should be more careful when you're wearing a dress. Maybe try not to stand on someone's chest where they might see up your dress next time? Or did you perhaps want me to see it?" I cringed inwardly at the totally bare attempt at flirting. I'd never been good at this…

Her face flushed crimson, whether from anger or embarrassment I couldn't tell, as she spoke. "Ok, look. The way I see it, we're even now. I saw you half naked, and you pretty much saw me the same. Let's leave it at that, and not take it any further; things just wouldn't work between us if we tried." I was surprised at that. It seemed that she'd come to the same conclusion I had about what would happen if we tried to mate. Or maybe she'd come to a completely separate conclusion about things I hadn't even taken into account.

"Agreed." I had to force another thought of just following her back to her room and taking her out of my head before I could continue. "Thanks for upgrading my armor and rifle. They both work great. On another note, are you feeling alright?"

"Yes." Her terse one-word reply told me all I needed to know. She really was feeling terrible, but was, like me, too stubborn or proud to admit it. And too proud to notice and respond to the un-disguised flirtation earlier.

"Well, that tells me that yes, you either are or feel sick. Hope you start feeling better soon." I gave her a smirk as I walked over to the main group.

"… fair! I told you, we need a re-match!" Tali was complaining. It seemed that she was bitter about our loss.

"Sorry Tali, but that's a no-go. You lost fair and square. I mean, it's not our fault that you guys didn't pick up your missile launchers, or that you were set up just where the building fell on you." Shepard responded with a grin and a shake of her head.

"But how could you win with just two men dead?" Tali's voice was a lot like a child throwing a tantrum.

"Quarian, that would be because after you all died I got struck by lightning. Or rather, Kiara dropped from the sky and shot me in the head with something that looked a hell of a lot like lightning." I chimed in to clear up any argument that might be forming.

I walked away when the argument started up again, and went through the transit beam and back to the Normandy. From there I went back to my room, and stripped off my armor. I turned on the shielding, and picked up a few stones and small metal objects I had saved up for this. It had always been a habit of mine to test the shielding on my armor every time it got changed or updated. After all, they usually had different amounts of force needed to activate them.

I'd had one set that would go active with a punch, while others weren't even triggered by an explosion's shrapnel. But it wouldn't be much of a shield if it hadn't been triggered by particle beams, lasers, or any kind of bullet. Sure, enough mass or velocity behind something could break it, but few things, setting aside a sniper rifle's faster bullets or something with a lower velocity but more mass, would be able to take a good shield out in one shot.

The first object, a small and light stone, bounced off the armor itself after a light throw. It had the same result when I threw it as hard as I could. The second, a lump of metal that was about the size and weight of a fist, bounced off after an easy throw. But on the hard throw, I got entirely different results. Three overlapping, yet separate, layers of whirling blue light flared into life around the armor, causing the stone to zip away and leave a sizeable dent in the wall before falling to the floor.

Wow… these shields really were quite sensitive. They might even activate at a punch, and if it had the same results as just now the attacker would practically go flying. The only downside I could see would be if a solid projectile, instead of burning up on contact at the speeds it would reach, was deflected like that lump of metal. It could end up hitting a team-member whose shields might not be able to handle it.

Deciding to just leave the armor off, I settled in for a nap. I'd wake up in time for supper, probably, and after that would exercise some. Just a few more days to kill until we were off the station and out into the galaxy again. I couldn't wait… even the thought of how awkward it might get sharing a ship with Kiara didn't make me want to stay here.

* * *

**Author's Note: As I said, mostly filler, and one of my shorter chapters. Nothing really important, but a needed bridge between the current sub-arc, and the next.**


End file.
